The Grief of Deafness

May 17, 2026 • Rory Mosley

038 The Grief of Deafness

Mark 7:31-37

May 17, 2026

You will likely remember that we are in a segment of Mark’s gospel

Where Mark is revealing the failure of men to see Jesus.

I’ve shown you sort of the “book ends” of the segment.

It began in Mark 6 when Herod became paranoid at the fame and power of Jesus.

Mark 6:14-16 “And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

· Clearly Herod didn’t know who Jesus was.

· And neither did the people.

And this segment will end later in Mark 8 when the Jesus takes the disciples to Caesarea Philippi:

Mark 8:27-29 “Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”

So you see how Mark has sort of framed this segment.

It is a world that is totally confused as to who Jesus is.

And really, the focus of the 3 chapters

Is that even the disciples are confused.

They don’t really know Him either.

We remember how Jesus fed the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish, but the disciples didn’t learn a thing.

Mark 6:52 “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.”

Even the disciples had hardened hearts

That prevented them to see who Jesus was.

We said that they failed to see how “set apart” He was.

· They had grown too familiar.

· In too many ways they assumed that He was like them, and they like Him.

In reality there was no comparison,

When Jesus came walking to them on the water they realized it.

“We are not the same.”

And the disciples had failed to grasp that.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

Mark also revealed that the disciples failed to understand

How “undefiled” Jesus was.

· The Pharisees came and rebuked Jesus for allowing His disciples to eat with unwashed hands

· Jesus exposed them as frauds.

· Then Jesus explained that true defilement is not of the hands, but of the heart.

But we again learned that the disciples didn’t get it.

Mark 7:17-18a “When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also?”

So not only did the disciples have hardened hearts,

But they also had a lack of understanding.

And Jesus corrected that problem last week

As He put the Syrophoenician woman on display.

· Outwardly she checked every possible box of defilement, but Jesus squeezed

her until she revealed the condition of her heart.

· While she was a woman Gentile and former pagan, Christ had clearly cleansed

her for now she was filled with humility, submission, and faith.

So Jesus successfully taught the disciples again.

He corrected their understanding of defilement.

· It wasn’t about the outside, it was about the inside.

Jesus was correcting the disciples and thus revealing Himself.

· The disciples failed to truly see Jesus because they thought holiness was an external virtue.

· When you learn it is about the condition of the heart, that’s when Jesus will blow your mind.

SO REGARDING THE DISCIPLES WE HAVE ALREADY LEARNED:

They were too hardened to see how set apart He was

· He corrected that when He came walking on water.

They lacked understanding regarding defilement and thus failed even to understand how undefiled Jesus is.

· Jesus corrected that by putting the Syrophoenician woman on display.

WELL THERE IS STILL MORE TO CORRECT.

If you read ahead just a little bit in Mark’s gospel,

The next confrontation of the disciples is coming.

It will occur after Jesus has another confrontation with the Pharisees,

They all cross the sea again,

And on the way Jesus warns the disciples about the Pharisees.

Mark 8:15-21 “And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” “When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, “Seven.” And He was saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

You see it all again don’t you?

· (17) “Do you not yet see or understand?”

· (17) “Do you have a hardened heart?”

· (18) “Having eyes do you not see? And having ears do you not heart?”

· (18) “Do you not remember?”

· (21) “And He was saying to them, “Do you not understand?”

All the same problems again isn’t it?

· Hardened hearts

· Lack of understanding

· Blind eyes

· Deaf ears

The disciples, despite walking with Jesus every day, still did not see Him.

They still did not hear Him.

They still did not understand.

They still had hardened hearts.

That is really the issue of this entire segment.

And because that is the case,

It makes sense why Mark chooses the miracles he chooses to reveal.

· Mark is about to show you Jesus healing a deaf man.

· Mark is about to show you Jesus healing a blind man.

· Mark is about to show you Jesus performing the same miracle again that they

failed to recognize the first time.

Doesn’t seem like much of a coincidence does it?

· Blind disciples…let Me heal a blind man.

· Deaf disciples…let Me heal a deaf man.

· Undiscerning disciples…let Me work that miracle again.

Throw in there yet another brief encounter with hard-hearted Pharisees

And Mark’s point comes shining through.

Mark is revealing Jesus to those who should see Him but don’t.

And what you will see here THIS MORNING is that

SUCH A CONDITION IS A GRIEF TO JESUS.

He will sigh over the dilemma of deafness.

He will grieve over those who have ears but can’t hear.

And not just the man who is deaf, but the crowd too

And even His disciples who demonstrate deafness.

And that LEADS US to how we need to read this segment.

We need to ask this question of ourselves.

· Do I see Him?

· Do I hear Him?

· Do I understand?

· Is my heart hard?

Here we have men who lived, and walked, and talked with Jesus

And still did not understand who He was or why He came.

I would think our desire and our request as we study

Is that He would show us who He is.

· Show us how set apart He is.

· Show us how undefiled He is.

· Show us how glorious He is.

· Show us what a Savior He is.

As Paul said:

Philippians 3:10-11 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Our prayer is that we will rightly see Him, hear Him, and know Him.

Our prayer is that we not be content to not hear.

That we not be grievous to Jesus

Because we do not care enough to listen to who He is.

AND THIS MORNING

We seek that by looking at a miracle which only Mark records.

So you know by now that

· Jesus has departed from Galilee.

· He is trying to get alone with His disciples to instruct them regarding who He is.

· He traveled northwest 40 miles to the country of Tyre in order to do that.

· While He was there the Syrophoenician woman found Him and came requesting that He cast a demon out of her daughter, which He did.

· But certainly this sparked a crowd again and so Jesus and the disciples would leave again.

(31) “Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis.”

That is quite the interesting voyage.

Jesus is going to end up southeast of Galilee

On the other side of the sea back in “the region of Decapolis”

(Which is where He also delivered that Gadarene Demoniac.)

The strange part is that He first went “through Sidon”

Which is actually due north of Tyre.

So Jesus quite literally goes north to go south.

· He is taking a really wide loop to avoid the region of Galilee where He had been ministering.

· He is going way around to stay out of Capernaum and Chorazin and Cana Gennesaret and all of those towns where He has been ministering.

This is still about the 12

This is still about instructing them.

But, when He arrives at Decapolis it is actually more of the same.

Mark doesn’t include it, but Matthew does.

Matthew 15:29-31 “Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.”

It is apparent that when the Gadarene demoniac went about to tell everyone what great things God had done for him that he did his job well.

Mark pulls out one of the healings

That Jesus performed while He was there and focuses on it.

(32) “They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him.”

As I said, Mark is the only one to record this healing,

No doubt it is because it deals with deafness.

This is a physical healing with a spiritual significance.

Jesus is going to heal in this man physically

What the disciples need healed spiritually.

This is a man who can’t hear and thus he can’t speak accurately.

· You all certainly realize how closely related speaking is to hearing.

· Those who can’t hear how they sound have difficulty speaking clearly.

· And that was this man.

But there is a clear spiritual connection there as well.

Often times when talking about being a teacher of the Bible

I remind people that speaking is directly related to hearing.

If you don’t know how to listen you’ll never know how to speak.

Good preachers are good learners.

· They are those who are devoted to hearing and learning so that they might

clearly articulate what they now clearly understand.

Sometimes unclear preaching or unclear preaching is passed off as

Just being too deep or too complicated and that is rarely the case.

More often than not it’s that the preacher didn’t know what he was talking about. He didn’t understand it, so how could you?

The great preachers and teachers (The John MacArthurs, the R.C. Sprouls, the Adrian Rogers) are clear because they have spent time hearing and learning until they clearly understand it.

ONCE THEY HEAR CLEARLY THEY CAN SPEAK CLEARLY TO YOU.

In order to be a good speaker

You have to be a good hearer.

While the disciples had not such physical infirmity,

They did have a spiritual infirmity.

They were not yet ready to go and proclaim the gospel

Because they were not hearing right.

They had not grasped the point because they were not rightly listening.

What they needed is the same thing this man needs

And that is to be healed of their deafness.

WELL, GOOD NEWS!

JESUS HEALS THE DEAF.

And that is what you see Him do here.

(33-35) “Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly.”

OK, LET’S BE HONEST.

At first reading that sounds incredibly strange.

We’ve seen Jesus heal many times, but this is not the norm.

· We’ve seen Him touch lepers.

· We’ve seen Him command cripples to walk.

· We’ve seen Him heal from a distance without being present.

BUT THIS ONE IS PECULIAR.

FIRST: “put His fingers into his ears”

· Incidentally the word there is literally “thrust”.

· Jesus thrust His fingers into the man’s ears.

THEN: “after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva”

· And the human nature in you is just hoping He picked a different finger than the

one He just pulled out of your ear.

THEN: “looking up to heaven with a deep sigh”

Jesus certainly has the right to heal however He desires,

But this scene still seems sort of strange.

SO WHAT IS JESUS DOING HERE?

“Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself…”

That is sort of the standard operating procedure at this point.

· He is working in secret.

· He is pulling away from the crowds.

· This miracles are for His disciples not everyone.

His objective is NOT to simply be the great healer of physical infirmity.

He has come for a different reason.

Certainly He is filled with compassion.

Certainly He is willing to heal those who are afflicted.

But that is NOT the ultimate goal and Jesus works to keep it concealed.

But then comes the part where Jesus addresses his infirmity.

He “put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is “Be opened!”

Think of Jesus here speaking a sort of sign language to the man.

· It may not be sign language like you understand it,

· But it is a clear form of communication

· By which Jesus is explaining to this man who can not hear Him what He is

about to do.

Jesus is going to fix his ears.

Jesus is going to fix his tongue.

Even the verbal command Jesus gives is a simple word that would be easy to read just by lip reading, “Ephphatha!”

This man had never heard about Jesus.

This man likely had no idea who He was or what He could do.

Jesus is making it clear through a sort of sign language.

But the action we are most interested in

Is when Mark says that “looking up to heaven with a deep sigh”

“deep sigh” is (sten-OD-zo)

You’ve seen it before.

Romans 8:23 “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”

2 Corinthians 5:2 “For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,”

But it can also have a sort of negative connotation.

James 5:9 “Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.”

· There it is translated as “complain”

It is an inner grief, a groaning,

a discontentment at the current circumstance.

And here we see Jesus doing it as He engages this deaf man.

It is not hard to understand why Jesus would groan

When staring deafness in the face.

Spiritual deafness is incredibly grievous to Him.

He has preached and preached and preached all over the region

And yet the prophecy of Isaiah has rung true time and time again.

Mark 4:11-12 “And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.”

How many times have we heard Him say:

Mark 4:9 “And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Mark 4:33 “With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;”

The frustration must have been real.

Day in and day out preaching to people with ears who can’t hear.

And here, standing right in front of Jesus

Was a living physical example of the spiritual infirmity that ravaged Israel.

Even His disciples had a bit of the problem.

And Jesus grieved.

He sighed.

Some have certainly lamented the infirmity this man had lived with his entire life.

How difficult is it to survive without being able to hear.

It’s not just the handicap, but the separation from others.

· Deafness is a separating infirmity.

· You aren’t a part of conversations.

· You aren’t routinely told what’s going on.

· You may be present, but still not in the loop.

And even if you were able to understand, the difficulty this man had with expressing himself to others made his life a life of seclusion.

Certainly that is grievous

And would make a compassionate Savior sigh over his hardship.

But the sigh of Jesus here is much more than that.

How grievous is spiritual deafness?

· Have you ever tried sharing the gospel with those who are spiritually deaf?

· Have you ever tried teaching those who cannot hear?

· Have you ever tried explaining eternal things to those who can’t and won’t get it?

It is frustrating to not be able to get through to someone.

Imagine then the frustration Jesus must have felt

Even with the disciples around Him who did not seem to get it.

The only One who likely seemed to understand

Was the Father to whom Jesus lifted His eyes.

This man and his deafness was a bitter reminder

Of the hardship of His own ministry on earth.

JESUS DEALT WITH THE DEAF DAILY.

What we also love about this miracle is THE INTIMATE WAY in which it is healed.

I love that Mark records that Jesus thrust His fingers into the man’s ears.

· Almost like He was punching a hole in a sealed container.

I love that Jesus touched his tongue with saliva,

· Almost like He was priming the pump of a well done dry,

· Loosening up the very instrument of speech.

I love that Jesus forcefully declared for the man’s ears to “Be opened!”

It was Jesus in a war against deafness

And determined to overthrow it.

And the great news here is that Jesus totally did!

(35) “And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly.”

That is miraculous!

Not only to hear, but to instantly speak plainly?

A man who knew nothing

Immediately became a man with something to say.

That really is the remarkable reality of being granted spiritual hearing.

Once you hear you now have something to say.

I think of the disciples in the book of Acts.

Acts 4:13-20 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.” And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Those men had a message.

· They had heard the truth and they could not help but proclaim it.

· They knew the good news, and were compelled to repeat it.

· Their untrained tongues were opened and nothing could stop their message.

AND THIS IS WHAT JESUS IS AFTER.

He is after men who hear the truth, know the truth,

And thus accurately proclaim the truth.

But that also explains why He says what He does in verse 36.

(36) “And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.”

IT’S NOT that Jesus didn’t want His power to be known.

IT’S NOT that He had some prejudice against healing anymore.

What Jesus did not want

Was people who did not truly know Him or know why He came

To go out and be the spokesman about Him and His ministry.

YOU’LL REMEMBER that even though demons rightly identified Him, He would not permit them to speak.

He was not about to let demons

Set the narrative as to the purpose of His ministry.

And the same can be said of those who heard of this ministry.

To be certain they now knew Jesus had power.

To be certain they were aware of His strength.

In fact, notice the message they began to proclaim.

(37) “They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

That’s not an untrue statement.

To a certain extent it’s even profound.

When they say, “He has done all things well”

It almost brings to our mind the declaration of God regarding His creation.

Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

That is what “well” means.

It is (ka-LOCE) and it means “beautifully, excellently, fully, well”

Mark 7:6 “And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.”

· There it is “rightly” referring to the pinpoint accuracy of the word of God.

Mark 7:9 “He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.”

· There it is rendered “experts” speaking at how skilled the Pharisees were at ignoring God’s words.

THE CROWD HERE WAS RIGHT.

Jesus does do all things well.

Jesus can do anything.

“He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

He does what no one can do.

That is not an untrue statement, but that is not the message

That Jesus would have proclaimed about Him to the world.

THINK ABOUT IT.

In a few months

· Jesus will have been crucified, buried, and risen from the dead.

· He will gather with His disciples before He is taken up to heaven.

In that day, they will have become accurate hearers.

In that day, He will commission them to go out and speak clearly.

And what will the commission be?

Luke 24:44-49 “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. “You are witnesses of these things. “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

The message that Jesus can heal any sickness is certainly accurate.

We in no way would ignore that or exclude it,

But it is NOT the whole message.

One could even say it is NOT the main message.

The main message is that Jesus can forgive sinners of their sin.

How many prosperity preachers have gone out into the world today with nothing more than a message that Jesus can heal the sick?

We don’t argue with that message, for Jesus can heal the sick.

· We are highly skeptical of the shady ministries that so often offer His healing.

But when someone says that God can heal, we don’t argue with that.

BUT THAT IS NOT THE FOCUSED MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL.

Consider even for a moment what will happen in a few days

· When Jesus will finally get the disciples alone in Caesarea Philippi

· And they will finally rightly identify who He is.

That’s a pivotal moment.

That is huge!

And yet, look at what Jesus will say next.

Mark 8:30 “And He warned them to tell no one about Him.”

Why would He still want them to keep silent regarding who He is?

Because even though they know who He is,

They are still totally confused as to why He came.

Mark 8:31-33 “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

It’s clear there isn’t it.

Jesus revealed that He came to die, and Peter was so confused regarding the truth that he actually rebuked Jesus for saying it.

Can we agree that Peter was in no way ready

To go out and be a spokesman for Jesus?

Was Peter RIGHT regarding who Jesus was?

· Yes

Was Peter READY to go out and be the spokesman for Christ?

· No

That is what we see here.

That is why Jesus did not want them going out.

Their message wasn’t wrong, but it was incomplete.

UNFORTUNATELY the crowd, probably even the disciples,

Went out and proclaimed Jesus’ power anyway.

SO WHAT DO WE SEE IN THIS STORY?

· We clearly saw a deaf man whom Jesus healed.

· But we saw lots of people who could hear that wouldn’t listen.

Do you understand the sigh of Jesus now?

Do you understand how frustrating it must have been for Him

To be surrounded by people who did not care enough

To learn exactly who He was or why He came?

Now let’s get back to the personal application here.

We started off by saying that it was important that I ask the questions:

· Do I really see Jesus?

· Do I really hear Jesus?

· Do I really know Jesus?

Can you see what a grief it is when even His own people have ears but don’t hear?

Can you see what a grief it is when even His own people try to go out and spread an incomplete or even inaccurate message?

WHAT CHRIST IS AFTER HERE

· Is people who will seek Him to know Him.

· Is people who will press on to understanding.

· Is people who will strive to listen so that they might accurately speak.

He has said it:

Mark 4:21-25 “And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

This morning let His church be committed to listening.

Accurately hearing which leads to accurately speaking.

There is enough bad teaching about Jesus in the world.

There are enough people who have no clue what He came to do.

WE CANNOT BE THOSE PEOPLE.

Listen to the writer of Hebrews rebuke his congregation for failing here.

Hebrews 5:11-6:3 “Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits.”

You can almost hear the writer of Hebrews share the grief of Jesus as his congregation has “become dull of hearing.”

· They just aren’t interested.

· They just aren’t digging for truth.

· They just aren’t seeking out who Christ is.

You can almost feel him wanting to thrust his fingers in their ears too to clean out any impediment that is keeping them from hearing.

You can almost feel him wanting to wet their tongues too and loosen them up so that they might become accurate teachers.

He wants to cry to them, “Be opened!”

It is a grief when the church is too lazy to learn

And thus incapable of speaking accurately.

It is his hope that God will open the deaf ears of His people

To learn that they might teach.

MAY WE AS A CHURCH,

· Be pierced by the sigh of Christ that His people do not listen.

· Commit to study His words until we know Him rightly.

· Commit to get the message accurate that He might commission us to share it.

2 Timothy 2:14-15 “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”